Visionary Realms — a startup studio from globally renowned designer, Brad McQuaid — announced today that it has received the seed funding required to bring their first MMO game, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, through prototype and into alpha.

The funding came from an angel investor and has allowed Visionary Realms to expand its team, build a prototype of the game, and launch two new websites to showcase both the company and the game. Additionally the funding has granted the studio enough resources to bring the game into an alpha phase, where external players will get a chance to test it and provide early feedback.

“This has been a game changer for us,” stated Chief Creative Officer, Brad McQuaid. “We’ve been able to fill in some key roles, from artists to programmers and designers. This in turn has allowed us to complete the last pieces of the prototype and we are now preparing the game for alpha. Now is when things start to get really fun — we have a playable game we can soon start to show. We can’t wait to start bringing in players to get their thoughts.”

Visionary Realms aims to begin Pantheon’s alpha phase by the end of the year, ultimately targeting a 2017 release.